It was a cool summer night, and Justin Falem was running down Mirtle Rd. He was running away from the government's men out to capture and bring to justice the scared and confused Justin Falem.
He quickly ducked into a back alley and ran for his life. He heard the heavy footsteps of the men and leaped behind a dirty dumpster that sat against the wall of the dirty back alley. He could see it, he could see it in his mind, he would grab the first man that came his way and use him as a shield from the tazers and bullets that would be fired in his direction. He heard footsteps coming his way like someone jogging in a marathon. The man came into sight. He was just like all the others; men in black suits wearing black tinted sunglasses, an earpiece and was holding a black gun. So much darkness in them he thought to himself. Then, Justin realised that the man hadn't stopped at the edge of the dumpster. He'd just kept running so with nothing to lose Justin broke out into a silent jog behind the man.
Justin caught up with him and then raised his elbow and plunged it through the air to the top of the man's spine, instantly the man wasparalysed. Justin picked him up and held him by the scruff of his suit and ran backwards as fast as he could. As Justin had suspected he heard gunshot, he then felt impact through the now dead body that he was holding. It wasn't the most pleasant of feelings to see that you had been making a trail of blood that had been trickling down a man's body and on to the cold pavement below.
This made him run even faster, as if he slowed his pace for a millisecond then he would be caught. It was then that he realised that they had deliberately shot the man so that his blood would leave a trail. Damn, thought Justin. Luckily enough he was about to round a corner. He could drop the body there and take off at full speed.
He rounded the corner but he could see it was too long and far to run without a shield. If he dropped the body now, his pursuers might round the corner and have a clear shot at him. I'll have to risk it he thought to himself. He dropped the body and instantly he felt like a backpack full of bricks had been lifted off him.
He took off at full speed down the back alley hoping for all things holy that there was a gap or something he could get onto a roof with, and there it was; another dumpster. He sprang up onto the dumpster like a cat running from a dog. From there he hauled himself up onto the roof and slid down a curved metal roof to save energy. He jumped when his feet were approaching the blocked gutter, and landed with a soft thud on the asphalt. Oh no, he was on another road. He was out in the open; snipers could easily pick him off while he was on the street.
What should he do? Should he run back the way he had come? Or run down the street like a mad hatter? Not knowing what to do he walked along the foot path pondering his thoughts. He had walked for hours and still no one had caught up with him. Had they given up the search? Then all of a sudden there was loud crack. Startled, he turned around and there they were; a dozens of agents were running after him, only a kilometer away down the track. He needed refuge, somewhere, anywhere. He turned a corner and there were thousands of people out celebrating the Chinese New Year.
Perfect, thought Justin, a distraction. He then ran as fast as he could into the insane mob of people, but soon enough he was over whelmed by the lack of personal space; the outrageous assault on the ears through the art of music and so many lights. Struggling to find the end of this nightmare he ran to the outer edges of the mob, but pushed so far that he burst through the door of a shop. It looked like a sushi shop with a long bar with small benches and stools for people to sit at. One man sat hunched in a chair. Justin could hear the clinking of chopsticks against a plate and smelt the odour of raw fish. Between mouthfuls, he spoke to Justin.
In a strong voice he asked, "You want sushi?"
"No," said Justin
"Then why you here?" said the man.
"I need refuge" said Justin hope fully
"From what?"
"From the government." Justin replied. The clinking of chopsticks against the plate stopped. The man spun around on his stool as if it was an ordinary day. He was Chinese with a long moustache that reached to his chest. He was wearing a thick bandanna wrapped around his head and he appeared to be wearing some sort of apron over a dark blue shirt.
"Why do you run?" he asked.
"Fear," replied Justin truthfully.
"What's your name, child?" said the man.
"Justin. What's yours?"
"My name is Yinchi," said the man "What do you seek here child?"
"A new life," admitted Justin.
Yinchi's eyes suddenly opened as if he saw an opportunity.
"Very well," said Yinchi "you willing to work for this new life of yours?"
"As hard as any other man," said Justin hopefully.
"You can have your new life of yours, if you work at my sushi bar," offered Yinchi.
"I'll take it," said Justin.
"Good," said Yinchi "you can be chef; I'll show you to your room at once."
"Thank you," said Justin "you will not regret this one bit."
"I better not," said Yinchi "by the way how did you ruin your old one?"
"My old what?" said Justin, slightly confused.
"Your old life," clarified Yinchi.
"That is a very long story."
Chapter 2
Justin was on his break from the sushi bar when he heard gunshot and a man came running around the corner and seeing Justin as the only one there the man ran towards him and then took a breath and said
"I need refuge"
Justin thought for a moment, and then decided to take him in.
"Come with me"
Together they started to run back towards the sushi bar, but the sound of footsteps was close behind them. Boy, I haven't run this fast for a while, thought Justin. They reached the street that Yinchi's Sushi Bar was on and they came crashing through the door like two dogs trying to get through the same doggy door.
"What is this Justin!?" asked a startled Yinchi
"This man needs refuge" Justin got out between his puffing
Yinchi looked at the boy up and down and then started scratching his chin.
"Yinchi this is no time to consider, there are people about to smash down that door any second now" said Justin hearing shouting out in the street.
"Fine, fine hide under the counter, I tell them you not here"
So Justin and the man jumped over the counter just in time, because the second they sat up the door was nearly flung off it's hinges, revealing a tall man in the regular uniform that the government provided.
"Do you want sushi?" asked Yinchi in a calm voice
"No I want this man," said the tall agent handing Yinchi a piece of paper with a picture of the man that had come in with Justin "have you seen him?"
"No" said Yinchi quickly
"Well then I'm very sorry to have disturbed your day" said the man as he was leaving, closing the door behind him.
